1. The Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to messaging systems. More specifically the invention relates to a method and a corresponding system for enabling the sending of messages to a recipient via any of a number of messaging systems of different types.
2. The Relevant Technology
In today's communication environment there are a number of different systems for communicating messages between users, such as the Internet, mobile systems and the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). These communication systems have different addressing principles, types of messages (e.g., text or voice) etc. Furthermore one single person usually has one or more addresses in each of these communication systems, such as one e-mail address, one mobile phone number, one fixed phone number etc.
The fact that each person is reachable in a number of different communication networks and that different addresses and message types are used in these messaging systems gives rise to a number of problems. One of the problems is that it is hard for an originator to keep track of all the addresses of a recipient. Another problem is that the originator needs to try some or even all of the different addresses before one address is found at which a recipient is currently reachable. Furthermore, the originator needs to use different interfaces to reach the different addresses, e.g., to send a Short Message System (SMS) message to a recipient the originator needs to connect to a SMS center (SMS-C) and to send an e-mail the originator needs to connect to an e-mail system.
Furthermore, even if a recipient is currently reachable on one of the addresses, such as an e-mail address, it might be the case that the originator has no possibility to send an e-mail at the time. For example, the originator might just have access to a Plain Old Telephone (POTS) Service telephone or a mobile phone at the time. A similar problem arises when the originator only has access to a POTS telephone and the recipient is only available on a mobile phone, but only via SMS messages since the recipient is in a meeting and cannot accept voice communication.
The problems are especially acute when the originator is away from his or her office or home, such as when traveling. In this case the originator could carry a portable computer and some kind of mobile device in order to alleviate the problems above to some extent. Still, the originator needs to perform a number of steps in order to find an address on which the recipient is currently available, such as connecting to an e-mail system and typing a message, connecting to a mobile network and typing an SMS message or placing a call etc. As described the message needs to be repeated for each try. Furthermore, the environment the originator is currently in might not be suitable for typing messages. For example, this is the case when the originator is currently driving a car, walking etc.